...someone who calls me uses one of these, they get blocked.

Problem solved.

We need a law that prohibits counties (or other entities) that ban alternative energy projects from importing power from outside their borders.

"... that directs you to a random video when you don't know what to watch."

If you don't know what to watch, why not do something else that's not a pointless time sink?

In the right situation, this can be OK. Imagine you need to print a lot of stuff in a relatively short period of time (say...I don't know...maybe six months or less). Getting all the ink you need to do this for free* can offset the $85 purchase price of the printer. When the free ink deal ends, donate it to whomever will take it. The tax deduction will offset the purchase price even more.

* I have not read the fine print of the HP Plus contract, so I don't know if there's some limit on the free ink deal.

...ice cream, and mayonnaise, and soap. How do you make mayonnaise in the cloud? What does "cloud mayonnaise" taste like?

I'm not enough of a lawyer to comment on whether or not the Supreme Court's ruling is appropriate or not. But the Appellate Court's statement: ..."the various types of damage that can occur to media such as software" makes it clear that they lack technical understanding of the issue. Software is not a medium. It may be stored on a medium, but that's not the same thing at all.

Not so much. Many Airbnb hosts in NYC rent out their normal-sized apartments when they're away for the weekend. I know others who list their place all the time, and when they get a renter, they clear out and crash with friends for the duration of the rental. Either way, it's illegal. The minimum duration for a sublease in NYC is 30 days. I've gotta think that the vast majority of Airbnb rentals are for shorter periods of time.

NYC Could Lose 10,000 Illegal Airbnb Listings Because of New Short-Term Rental Law

...and I think this is ridiculous. The pleasure in driving a stick is the tighter connection with the car, and a well-executed gear change is it's own reward. If it's all just pretend, what's the point? Koenigsegg, on the other hand, has done an admirable job of keeping the shifting of your own gears relevant in the 21st century. Read about it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

There's one quote from the article that says a lot about what's going on:

“We are very concerned about our scores, and find that they are not an accurate reflection of the time and effort put into this class,” the petition said.

Test scores are not (and should not be) a reflection of "time and effort". They're a reflection of how well the student learned the material. It sounds to me like the petitioners want a participation trophy for trying hard.

Russian Scientists Announce Six-Month Delay In Carving New Space Station

https://www.theonion.com/russi...

...yell, "Get in my cloud-covered belly!" before devouring them?

Not so much. It sounded (to me at least) that you were asserting that the strength of the mast comes from integration with the hull and/or deck structure, and with 99% of boats, that's not the case at all. The mast's ability to withstand the force of wind on sails, and indeed it's ability to remain vertical at all depends on what's called "standing rigging". These are (usually) steel wires or rods that go from the masthead or intermediate points on the mast to the hull. They support the mast, keep it rigid (or allow a certain degree of flex) and counteract the force of the sails.

There's no part of a ship known as the "body." Masts are installed (shipbuilders say "stepped") in one of two ways: Keep-stepped masts are mounted on the (wait for it...) keel of the vessel. There needs to be a hole in the deck(s) for the mast to go through, with the attendant issues of waterproofing, and designing the interior around the mast. You don't see this too often in modern boats. Deck-stepped masts are mounted on the deck or cabin top, depending on the design. Usually, there's a compression post in the cabin that goes from under the mast to the keel to transfer the load off the deck. Aside from avoiding the waterproofing issues, the compression post can be smaller in diameter than the mast, and/or buried in a bulkhead, so interior design is less of an issue. The designer may also use a structural member in the deck or cabin top that transfers the load of the mast to the hull without a compression post. In either case, the bulk of the strength of the mast comes from the standing rigging (stays and shrouds) that support it. The mast step just needs to be strong enough to support the weight of the mast and the downforce of the standing rigging.

...but the upside is that the guy who mugs me for my phone now has to peel off and take with him only the top half of my face instead of the whole thing.